Monday, April 8, 2013

More About Sazerac

The chief architect of present day Sazerac Company is President and CEO Mark Brown. He had some follow-ups to Thursday's post.

Although Sazerac doesn't belong to DISCUS or KDA, it is a member of The Presidents’ Forum of the Beverage Alcohol Industry, a trade association made up of U.S. beverage alcohol company CEOs. Brown estimates that Presidents' Forum members account for 35 to 40 percent of U.S. distilled spirits volume. Vicky McDowell, former Deputy Administrator of the TTB, is Executive Director.

The Forum doesn't have a web site but it appears to represent its member companies primarily on regulatory issues, which is part of what DISCUS does as well.

Regarding the absence of Ten High and others from the Great Bourbon list, Brown pointed out that Great Bourbon was not meant to be all inclusive. The full list of Sazerac products is on the Sazerac site.

They're still trying to figure out whether or not to put their ryes on the Great Bourbon site.

Brown has been a fun presence on the bourbon scene. He's the kind of guy who will drive from Frankfort to Cincinnati to show up at a small, private gathering of bourbon enthusiasts, just to see what we think of something they're working on at the distillery. He's very accessible and open, to a point, but when he doesn't want to tell you something he doesn't dissemble, he just says "I'm not going to tell you that."